Daily Schedule, Readings, and Assignments

This is a provisional schedule for the July 2019 Religious Worlds of New York summer institute. Some of the readings, site visits, and other details may change, but this schedule will give you a sense of content, workload, and pacing of the institute. As you can see, the institute schedule is quite busy, and the workload is sometimes intense. If you'd like to join us July, we hope you are excited to participate in a rigorous academic program.

Readings in green are optional. They will enrich your understanding of the issues we address, but they will not be a focus of class discussions. Optional background readings on specific faith traditions and communities are highly recommended if you aren’t familiar with the tradition in question.

Introduction to the Institute

Monday, July 8

8:30 - Breakfast and Coffee

9:00 - Welcome, Orientation, and Introductions, Henry Goldschmidt

Readings

Christopher Cotter and David Robertson, “The World Religions Paradigm in Contemporary Religious Studies,” in After World Religions, eds. Cotter and Robertson (Routledge, 2016), pp 1-20.

Catherine Albanese, “Understanding Christian Diversity in America,” in American Christianities: A History of Dominance and Diversity, eds. Catherine Brekus and W. Clark Gilpin (University of North Carolina Press, 2011), pp. 29-58

10:30 - Break

10:45 - Panel Discussion with New York Christian Clergy and Lay Leaders, facilitated by Henry Goldschmidt

12:15 - Lunch

1:30 - Introduction to Library Sources at UTS, and Web-Based Resources for the Study of Religion

Screening and discussion of The Chosen (1981, directed by Jeremy Kagan, based on the novel by Chaim Potok)

Optional Reading

Shaina Hammerman, Silver Screen, Hasidic Jews: The Story of an Image (Indiana University Press, 2018), Introduction

4:30 - Done for the Day

Friday, July 19

8:30 - Breakfast and Coffee

9:00 - Introduction to Judaism and Jewish Communities, Hasia Diner

Optional Readings

Hasia Diner, A New Promised Land: A History of Jews in America (Oxford University Press, 2003).

Chapters 2, 3, and 4 (on the major waves of American Jewish immigration and settlement) are particularly recommended if you have time.

John Leach (ed.), A Teacher's Guide to Religion in American Life (Oxford University Press, 2003).

A New Promised Land is one of a series of 25 books on American religious history for young adult readers, published by Oxford University Press. These are great resources for teachers, so we have included a copy of the teacher's guide to the entire series. Professor Diner's talk won't address the guide, but it will give you a sense of the broader context of her book.

10:30 - Break

10:45 - Panel Discussion with New York Jewish Clergy and Lay Leaders, facilitated by Henry Goldschmidt

12:15 - Afternoon off - or Research Time for Curriculum Development Projects

6:30 - Site Visit to Kabbalat Shabbat service at Congregation B'nai Jeshurun, 257 West 88th Street

9:00 - Presentations and Reflections on the Meanings of "Religion" on the Upper West Side

Each research team will present a brief slide show of its fieldwork findings, and discuss the working defintion of "religion" that emerged in its research.

11:30 - Lunch

12:30 - Concluding Reflection on Panel Discussions, Site Visits, and Field Research Project

Focusing on strategies for developing community-based religious diversity education programs in public, private, and faith-based schools. Would programs like these work in your school? How else can you introduce your students to everyday life of American religious diversity? What aspects of our work in the institute can and can't you translate into your teaching?

Part 1 in small groups. Brief Break. Part 2 facilitated by Henry Goldschmidt.

Optional Readings

Michael Umphrey, The Power of Community-Centered Education: Teaching as a Craft of Place (Rowman & Littlefield, 2007), Chapters 1 & 8